NEWSLETTER

GOVERNMENT AUDITING SPECIALISM PROGRAMME (GASP)

All candidates who wish to qualify as Registered Government Auditor (RGA) have to enroll and successfully complete the Government Auditing Specialism Programme (GASP).

QUALIFYING CRITERIA

Candidates are allowed to enrol for GASP if they meet the following criteria:

The prospective RGA has to obtain a three-year Commerce Degree or equivalent on NQF level 7 from a tertiary institution registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training in South Africa and meet certain subject requirements. The three-year qualification provides the general and basic knowledge and skills needed to function in an interdependent economy.

The specific subject requirements are:

Financial Accounting. (Final year undergraduate level)

Auditing (final year under graduate level))

Management Accounting / Financial Management

Taxation

Corporate Law / Commercial Law

Note: SAIGA acknowledges that tertiary institutions may use different names for the above generic subjects

GOVERNMENT AUDITING EXPERIENCE

The prospective RGA must gain his/her practical experience in a public sector auditing environment. This specifically defined (public sector) auditing experience is referred to as public sector (previously government) auditing experience (GAE). To qualify as an RGA, the prospective candidate has to complete three years of GAE. The practical experiences have to be gained whilst working for an Accredited Provider of Public Sector Auditing i.e. audit firms performing public sector audits or Supreme Audit Institution (SAI)i.e. AGSA). The SAIGA accredited workplace training provider should generally offer three-year training contracts and during this time the RGA candidate is referred to as a trainee auditor.

In short, the RGA entry requirements can be broken-down into the following phases:

ACADEMIC

A three-year Commerce degree or equivalent on NQF level 7 from a tertiary institution registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training in South Africa or their foreign equivalent with core subjects as stated above.

PRACTICAL

At least 18 months of practical experience of SAIGA Articles or

Completed training programme from accredited professional accounting body or

3 years of verifiable experience (Recognition of Prior Learning)

The following documents to accompany the application:

1. A GASP Application Form (all required information filled in)
2. A completed GASP Checklist
3. Certified copies of the subject lists (official documents issued by the tertiary institution)
4. Certified copies of the degree/s of the candidate
5. If the name on the degree certificate or subject lists is not the name of the candidate due to changes in the name after marriage, a certified copy of the marriage certificate
6. A copy of the candidate’s ID document.

Successful completion of the Government Auditing Specialism Programme (GASP) is a formal requirement that all persons who wish to qualify as RGA have to meet. The Government Auditing Specialism Programme is designed to address certain shortcomings in the academic programmes of tertiary institutions. Currently the universities’ academic programmes do not include all the public sector topics that form the foundation of the government auditor’s competencies. For example: The PFMA, the Treasury Regulations, the MFMA, RAP, GAMAP, the National Treasury’s Guide on How to Prepare Annual Financial Statements for Government Departments, the Public Audit Act, and performance Auditing, forensic auditing, auditing of performance information.